West Brom's Ben Cisse: Being a hometown Baggie and a cousin of Saido

It has been a couple of years of real progress for the highly-rated teen, an England youth international, who first joined the club as a nine year old.

Albion fan Cisse was a regular for Leigh Downing's under-18s in 2022/23 and 2023/24 and it was during the second half of the latter that he earned a call in between the sticks for Richard Beale's under-21s.

That led to the second-year scholar penning his first professional contract, a two-year deal, last May and for Cisse - a former ballboy at The Hawthorns and younger cousin of Saido Berahino - representing the club on his doorstep is a source of immense pride.

"When I was a kid, going to games, and now being in and around it - you can't get a grasp of it because every time you come in you just feel very grateful," Cisse told the Express & Star.

"I feel speechless when I come in. You see players you watch on TV, especially around the time of (Matheus) Pereira, (Grady) Diangana, that season and seeing all of them the next day after a game was surreal.

"I was a ballboy as well, in the Premier League, seeing all of the players and realising this is where I wanted to be in the future.

"My neighbours are massive West Brom fans and I still speak to them. It's a surreal feeling, especially being a Baggies fan and going to the games, when I'm training with them it just feels surreal."

Cisse added of his first professional contract: "It felt like what I was working for from a first-year scholar to then. My target was to get my pro (contract) and signing it shows hard work paying off."

The left-footed goalkeeper has represented England from under-16s and has this year enjoyed two calls to the nation's elite development level at under-20s.

His progress as a professional, albeit in its fledgling months, is some way from an upbringing in the Guns Village neighbourhood of town.

The goalkeeper revealed his football journey started as a youngster when his mum took him to the park and fellow schoolkids requested he went in goal. From there came Sunday league football with Birmingham club Phoenix United and West Brom All Stars, the centre of excellent for juniors.

Perhaps it was likely given Cisse's cousin, on his father's side, is former Baggies hot-shot striker Berahino, who scored 36 goals for Premier League Albion during the early-to-mid 2010s. Berahino, too, represented Phoenix United and the club's centre of excellence.

"I remember one day I asked my mum to go to the park and she didn't tend to let me go to the park but she said yeah," Cisse recalled.

"I went and I saw some kids I was in the same school as but I didn't really speak to. They asked me to play with them, I was outfield but they told me to hop in goal so I did and I did alright! A few days later I played in a tournament and saved two penalties."

He added of Berahino, who until November was at Indian outfit Rajasthan United: "Just seeing what he's done, when he had his time here and the impact he had at the club, it really inspired me knowing that if he can do it then hopefully I can get my chance to do it.

"It was mainly my mum and his mum that were close. I didn't really get the chance to speak too much, but I did used to speak to him here."

Speaking of inspirations, Cisse need look no further than Albion's current senior goalkeeper department. Alex Palmer, 28, made his 100th appearance for the club on Saturday, having waited until 2022 for his breakthrough.

Josh Griffiths, 23, is excelling on loan at Bristol Rovers. Ted Cann, another academy product, is part of the first-team squad.

There is a buzz at Albion, and among supporters, at Cisse's potential.

"With Palms now playing, Josh and Ted, it shows the pathway there for all of the keepers," Cisse added. "That was the main thing with me signing my new contract. I realised the amount of keepers that have come through and the pathway, there must be a project and there must be a path for all of the keepers.

"Being able to work with Palms, Ted, Josh when he is here and especially Joe (Wildsmith), they give me good advice.

"Training with the first team and even training with the under-21s, it's making sure everything I do is the best quality.

"It (2024) has been good. We'll see what happens for me next season with either going on loan or continuing to play my game at under-21s level."

A couple of years ago, during his time as a first-year scholar, Cisse spoke in a Sky Sports documentary titled 'David James: The One and Only'. It focused on opportunities for diverse goalkeepers in the United Kingdom.

Cisse said of that experience and growing up as a Baggie: "It allowed me the opportunity to show how much work West Brom do as a club in order to give me the best opportunity.

"That's not because of my skin colour, because it's fair for everyone else. If I wasn't good enough, then the same thing, it doesn't matter about skin colour.

"It's very inclusive, everyone is together. I've never felt out of place growing up, like an outsider. They always welcomed me, through coaches, staff, players, everyone."